China is getting its pig epidemic under control, but it’s not out of the woods yet 🇬🇧

Jack Lau puts on a full-body medical protective suit and pulls up his face mask at the gate of the Hong Kong Heritage Pork farm in a rural village located in the hills of northern Hong Kong.

Lau, a cofounder of the farm, then uses an electrical pump to spray his rubber boots with disinfectant and wash his hands before entering the farm’s pig weaning facility, which houses some 4,000 pigs between 1 and 8 months old.

Lau’s daily routine has nothing to do with COVID-19. Rather, it’s meant to halt the spread of African Swine Fever (ASF), a deadly pathogen that has ravaged global pig herds.

ASF isn’t harmful to humans. But for pigs, it is 95% to 100% fatal. The disease spreads like wildfire. Droplets of ASF can live for weeks on surfaces like the soles of shoes or sides of vehicles. It can also survive for months on pork products and spread between farms through ticks or flies.